Tuesday, September 22, 2015

I realize it's been awhile since I've posted any of my knitting. You probably thought I gave knitting up. I didn't. But I did make a sweater that took a looooooong time - and turned out awful. That was fun. Then I decided to make something where less could go wrong. So I made this poncho.

The pattern is called Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Classics. I bought the pattern at the yarn store, so I'm not sure if you can get it online or not. I basically just knit a really long rectangle, folded it in half, seamed one edge while leaving room for my head. Then I picked up the stitches in the neck and knit a cowl.

And I finished just in time for autumn! Yay!

Yarn: Araucania Natural Wool in color: Forest. 4 skeins.
Needles: US 6, circular needle. I don't remember how long it was, but long enough to knit flat.

I can't wait to wear it out! Maybe I need to go for a stroll this afternoon. :)

Monday, September 14, 2015

I mean, I already have this blog, an author webpage, a Facebook Page, a Facebook Author Page, an Instagram, and a Twitter account. But no - I needed a webpage just for my art. You know why? People kept asking me about it. "Do you have an online gallery?" "Where can I see your art?" and I didn't have one. Well - I do now.

There's an About Page - so this is the pic I used. This is from a photo shoot I did with a wonderful photographer Phyllis Meredith a couple years ago.

I made the page on Wix.Com. It was pretty freaking easy. You just find a template that works for you and pop your stuff in. I did not freak out once. Not once! (And, more importantly, I did not ask my husband for help.)

Now I have a place to show off my watercolors, collages, and all of the other fun stuff I do from time to time. Here are a few of the pieces I featured.

Green Frog collage by J. C. Phillipps

Pair of Koi 2015 Watercolor by J. C. Phillipps

Red Barn Under a Grey Sky watercolor by J. C. Phillipps

Yeti Monster Softie by J. C. Phillipps

Polar Bear Rock Art by J. C. Phillipps

In other news I am officially done making 30 monsters for the Halloween Stroll Monster Hunt in town. I promised 30. I've made 30. Now, I will make more to sell. It's not a high profit art sale, but I should make enough money to cover the supplies I bought and a little extra scratch.

The heat has passed and we are into some glorious 70's. Ahhhhhhh. Autumn! My favorite season!
(And I've almost finished the poncho I've been knitting.)

Magoo and I have seen a few movies recently:The Babadook (on Netflix) - Ooooooo so creepy. So scary. We stopped watching every time it got too intense. It took us three days to finish it. It's about a single mom at her wits end with her high-energy boy who finds a very creepy picture book.

The Gift (in theaters) - Really good and slightly creepy psychological thriller. Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall play a married couple that moves back to Bateman's hometown where they meet a man who knew Bateman in high school - and this dude is clingy. I screamed twice - but it's not a horror film. It's a thriller.

Mad Max: Fury Road (Amazon on Demand) - Do you watch movies and think "I want more car chases in the desert!" Well, this is the movie for you. It was 85% car chases in the desert. And they put Max in so they could call it a Mad Max movie, but it's really Charlize Theron's story. You could totally do it without Max - and that's kinda a negative issue for me. But - it was OK. And there were definitely some cool cars, cool stunts, and you gotta love a truck with an dangling electric guitar player who's instrument shoots fire.

Thanks so much for stopping in! Check out the new webpage is you want to see more art - all in one place!

Monday, September 7, 2015

The art hunts that my group the WeHa Artists Emporium have been doing in the past year have become popular. We were invited to four events this autumn. Of course, all of the groups want art hunts and art hunts ultimately mean a group of artists do a lot of work for free. So, whereas it's very flattering to be asked, we - as a group - declined.

But I love Halloween, so I accepted one of the invitations - to the Halloween Stroll - as an individual artist.

My plan is to make 30 monsters for the hunt, then have extras for sale.

Here are some of my clay ones.

And here are a couple monster softies.

So far, I'm having a pretty good time in my mad scientist monster lab. :)

Hope you're all having a nice Labor Day Weekend!
Thanks for stopping in.